“Family Guy’s” Brian the Dog Is Resurrected

Fox(NEW YORK) -- Family Guy's family dog Brian is again alive and well. Less than a month after the character was killed off, spawning a viral, negative response from fans, he was resurrected Sunday night, thanks to a massaging of a time-space continuum.

In the latest episode of the Fox animated comedy, baby Stewie Griffin used a Christmas wish -- and a time machine he built -- to go back in time and save his four-legged friend.

"I want my friend back," he tearfully told a mall Santa. "It's our first Christmas without him and no one has even mentioned his name."

Stewie transported himself to the scene of the accident, and pushed Brian out of the way just in time to avoid the speeding car that would have fatally wounded the dog. The pair had a warm exchange before the life-saving version of Stewie vanishes, replaced by a Stewie that never knew of the accident. He went right back to busting the dog's chops -- but Brian remembered the sacrifice, and gushed over his evil genius friend.

On Christmas morning, Brian gave Stewie a picture of the two of them together, saying, "You're my best friend, and I love you." Stewie responded with, "All I can say, Brian, is you've been making really creepy eye contact with me all morning, and I want it to stop right now."

After the show aired on the East Coast, Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane tweeted, "And thus endeth our warm, fuzzy holiday lesson: Never take those you love for granted, for they can be gone in a flash."

After Brian's untimely death in the Nov. 24 episode, the Griffin family got a new dog, Vinny, voiced by The Sopranos actor Tony Sirico. In Sunday's episode, the Griffins and Vinny parted ways.